Streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus and the host-parasite relation in murine schistosomiasis mansoni.

The effect of streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus on both the host and the parasite was studied in mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni. Neither the drug nor the marked rise in concentration of blood glucose had any effect on penetration of the skin by the cercariae, their subsequent maturation into adult worms, or their output of eggs. During the acute stages of the infection (at eight weeks), the diabetic animals showed marked suppression of the host granulomatous reaction to schistosome eggs trapped in the liver, accompanied by an alleviation of hepatosplenic disease. During the chronic stages of infection (at 16 weeks), there was a pronounced megalocytosis of the hepatocytes only in the infected animals with streptozotocin-induced diabetes; these animals also had an exacerbation of hepatosplenic disease.